Local

KERSHAW – Dustin Owens and his crew of skateboarding buddies have been no strangers to local government meetings.

The teenagers appeared multiple times before Lancaster City Council over the past year to garner support for the construction of a skatepark. Those visits yielded little to no results.

However, the same cannot be said about Kershaw Town Council’s meeting on Monday, June 18, in which that council members voted to accept nearly $100,000 worth of equipment that will allow for a skatepark to be built in the town limits.

A Lancaster woman pleaded guilty Thursday, June 14, in General Sessions Court in connection to the more than $60,000 taken from HOPE (Helping Other People Effectively) in Lancaster.

Sixth Circuit Solicitor Doug Barfield said Christy Leeann Ellis, 3283 Camp Creek Road, pleaded guilty to 67 counts of forgery, each less than $10,000, for using accounting software to generate fake checks, which were cashed at three local convenience stores.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and Lancaster Police Department are investigating what appears to be a rash of arsons over the weekend.

The fires, at vacant homes in Indian Land and Lancaster, share similarities with fires at an Old Hillside Drive mobile home Friday morning in that firefighters were called back to the scenes after extinguishing fires there earlier.

Staff Reports
The family of an 81-year-old Indian Land man with Alzheimer's is asking for the public's help in finding him after he drove away from home Monday night.
Kathleen Pressley said her husband, Joe Lee Pressley, left their home at 9021 Shelly Mullis Road driving his white 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck about 11:30 p.m. Monday, June 18.
The couple have lived at the home near the state line for 43 years.

Staff Reports
Lancaster Police Department is investigating a possible homicide Monday night in the death of a Lancaster man who was robbed and beaten during a home invasion last Wednesday night.
Lancaster County Coroner Mike Morris said police found Donald Eustace Morris, 53, no relation, dead inside his home at 307 S. York St. about 8:30 p.m. Monday.
The coroner declined to say how Morris died since his office was still awaiting the results of a preliminary autopsy.

Lancaster Police Department officers are investigating a shooting on South York Street on Monday night. The shooting victim was robbed and beaten during a home invasion last week. Check back later for more details.

Flags will be at half-staff on Monday, June 18, from sunrise to sunset by order of the governor per SC Code of Law Section 1-3-470 as a mark of respect for the memory of the Charleston Nine Firefighter of the Charleston Fire Department who died in the line of duty on June 18, 2007.

Gregory A. Summersgsummers@thelancasternews.com
More people in Lancaster County are looking for work, according to recent data released by the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW).
The county’s jobless rate for May was 11.9 percent, up 0.3 from April. In May 2011, the county posted a 13.8 percent unemployment rate.
South Carolina’s May 2012 unemployment figures showed the same 0.3 increase (8.8 percent to 9.1 percent). The 8.8 percent rate in April was the lowest in more than three years for the Palmetto State.

It’s music to every homeowner’s ears- no new taxes.
Even more melodious is the idea of less taxes, which the average Lancaster County resident may see in the county’s fiscal year 2012-13 budget.
Lancaster County Council unanimously approved second reading of its budget Monday, June 11, which adds funding for several new projects and positions while still decreasing the amount of taxes residents would have to pay.
Council must still vote one more time before the budget is accepted.